Category Archives: Extended Essay

A recent post in a closed Facebook group for IB Diploma Programme Extended Essay Coordinators asked, “Would this be a complete reference for a painting?”

There followed a curious discussion, some 20 comments long. The discussion inspired this blog post – and also got me reviving a post I started earlier this year on the same theme but had not managed to finish. I have now. My earlier thoughts are weaved in below, but let’s start with this recent, curious discussion.

The very first response declared,

The EE guide specifies that all online sources must have [Date accessed etc]

and thereafter the discussion focused on the date of access and its formatting and placement. After the person who posted the original question pointed out that the suggested reference did include the date of access (“Retrieved July 30, 2019)” that first responder came back with

(the Guide) requests a specific format for this and this point was reiterated in a workshop.

This same responder said in a later comment that the workshop leader had explained that having the date accessed in square brackets at the end of the reference enabled the examiner quickly to determine that the date of access had been included.

Regardless of the reference style adopted by the school for a given subject, it is expected that the minimum information given includes:

name of author

date of publication

title of source

page numbers as applicable

date of access (electronic sources)

URL.

and goes on to state

Examiners are required to alert the IB when minimum requirements are not met by a student, and the work is investigated accordingly.

IB has its own requirements for referencing. While the IB does not legislate which referencing style is used, it does require that the style used is used consistently. IB also advises that when its own requirements are different to those in a published style guide, then IB requirements must be followed. This is acceptable. Many if not most of the published style guides state explicitly that, if an instructor’s, school’s, institution’s or publisher’s requirements are different to the suggestions in the style guide, writers should meet the requirements of the instructor (etc). Say it loud: even if a style guide recommends that date of access is not needed, for IB assessments the date of access is needed.

Over the last few weeks, The IB has been publishing Extended Essay reports for the May 2018 exams. They are available for most subjects now.

I’ve been looking through them. Some of them make sad reading, marks thrown away needlessly. Most students should score in the top mark band for Criterion D, Presentation, at least for the elements of structural presentation. And yet, and yet… too many don’t.

Are the students who don’t get maximum points here careless? Don’t they know what’s required? Are supervisors letting them down by not advising what to check? Care here with that last though, of course: supervisors are not permitted to tell students that the page number for (say) the Discussion section does not match the page number given on the Table of Contents page; they are permitted to advise students to check that numbers on the pages match those in the Table of Contents page. The first situation is being specific and amounts to proof-reading and/or editing (neither of which are permitted); the second is general and generic, and advises the student to do the work of finding errors and correcting them.

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John Royce

I am a trainer and consultant. I work with teachers, librarians, and with students. I am a teacher-librarian, an information specialist; before going freelance, I worked in national and international schools in Zambia, England, Malawi, Germany and Turkey.
I have led IB DP workshops in extended essay and academic honesty, and DP and MYP workshops for librarians. And more!
This blog features my thoughts and musings. Find out more about me in the other pages on this site.